11:16 pm - I Went to Rice, I Must Be SmartTonight, as you all know, was the season premiere of Beauty and the Geek. While I'm generally against reality shows, I got a wee bit hooked on the last few episodes of the last season of BATG after my little sister made me watch it because she said Ankur was JUST LIKE ME. I didn't really agree, but it got me to watch the show, where I got caught up in some of the couples and crushed on Brittany and rooted for Josh. The show was surprisingly enjoyable, even though I was unsure how I felt about its approach to stereotypes. But frankly, I truly liked what they were doing. I felt like the contestants did grow and learn over the course of the show, and that made me feel warm and fuzzy. And there is the competition there, but no one ever tries to screw other people over. They just play to win. It's nice.

So I checked out the website to see if it was worth checking out this season, and by "worth checking out," I of course mean were the Beauties hot. And...they weren't, so much. Except for Nadia, who was pretty and had a very nice smile. And in motion on the show, she actually reminded me of sincerelysummer. Or maybe all pretty girls remind me of sincerelysummer.

Then I took a look at the Geeks. And then I saw that one of them was named Niels. And looked like a Niels I'd met Owl Weekend at Rice, and, in fact, had gone to Rice with me, I was pretty sure. The website said his education was at Berkeley, however. But, really, how many Nielses can there be in America, especially ones that I recognize?

I somehow remembered his last name (it wasn't Bohr, criminy), and sure enough, it was him! Wow. And he's doing his Ph.D. work at Berkeley. So weird! I left a comment on his blog saying we should meet up, although he'll probably be all, "You only want to meet up because I'm on TV," and I'll be all, "Well...mostly." It's not like we were ever close, but we did meet the weekend we visited Rice, and so we had a Bond throughout our four years. And by Bond I mean we knew each other and said Hi and stuff. Funnier still, I had forgotten (or maybe I hadn't known in the first place) that he and pixie37373 had worked on a senior design project together. The world is crazy awesome hilarious sometimes.

So that cemented my decision to watch because, come on, I've got to root my fellow Owl on. Go Niels, woo! Although from his bio on the site, it looks like he won regardless since he did have a life-altering experience that's made him happier and feel more successful, so, good for him!

"Seeing how much people can transform has changed my life. I want other people to be able to experience the same change I went through on the show. For me the show was not just an opportunity for social transformation, it was an opportunity to take a step back and reevaluate the entire direction of my life."

It's way weird to watch someone you knew in college on television. For the record.

I would feel like an idiot writing an entire post on the BATG premiere, but I will gladly discuss it with the five other people who watched.Current Mood:quixoticCurrent Music: Nellie McKay - Inner Peace

Re: isn't that surreal.

Ankur reminded me of you as well. I only watched because Joe was my friend's TA at Northwestern, but I also found it enjoyable. Not enough to watch it this year, but I'll probably watch when VH1 does the all day marathons, just because it's entertaining and cute. I did get to meet Joe after the show was over and it was neat to get the insider's perspective.

Nate's stand-up routine was so freaking hilarious! The voice teacher is hot, though, she had pretty eyes. And, as usual, most of the geeks aren't as geeky as they need to be. Matt would be the Richard/Josh of the season if he were't paired with Evil!Andrea. (I've still only seen half of the episode, so no spoilers y'all).

Nate's stand-up routine was so freaking hilarious!I know, it was such a great joke! Some TWoP people were saying it sounded like Mitch Hedberg, which I can see now, but that's why it was funny. I may have laughed harder, however, at "I wish you were sine squared and I was cosine squared so together we would be one."

The voice teacher is hot, though, she had pretty eyes.Yeah, she's very pretty too. And she seems nice enough.

And, as usual, most of the geeks aren't as geeky as they need to be.And some are just unbelievably geeky! I mean, are there Trekk...ers that honestly act like that and equate everything to the show?

Matt would be the Richard/Josh of the season if he were't paired with Evil!Andrea.Andrea is so evil! She looks better than her picture on the site, but I hate her so much anyway. You think Matt's the Josh? I don't think I can tell Matt and Drew apart. Wait, Drew is the Trekk...er, right? I feel like Niels could be the Josh, really, because he seemed pretty competent when I knew him.

Reality shows are more entertaining when you know someone on them. Which is why I watched the first season of America's Next Top Model; I went to middle school with one of the girls on there. She actually made it to the top three. And because my mom works with her mom, I got to hear all the Juicy Gossip about why she didn't win the whole thing.

It's way weird to watch someone you knew in college on television. For the record.

It is. A guy I knew in college was one of the stars (with Seth Green) on that sitcom Four Kings that was on for about five minutes last spring. The show sucked, but it was pretty fucking surreal to see Shane on TV.

I watched it! And liked it a lot actually, surprisingly so since I'm not usually a reality TV fan. I really liked the voice teacher... I was cheering for her when she answered those two questions right at the elimination. Or that could be because I just really disliked the other pair.

Hee - that's so neat when you know someone on one of these things. I must admit, I was very anti-reality show last year and hadn't ever watched one. I felt really strongly that they were taking work away from actors who need it (my field) but then they lured me in with So You Think You Can Dance those devious producers. Getting me with dance.

And then one day I was waiting for Cold Case to come on and caught the end of Amazing Race. And I kind of adored it. Plus Rae liked it and you know she's kind of a tv goddess. And now those bastards are doing Grease auditions. How can I not watch a show that has actors auditioning for a musical? Ack - the reality shows have got me.

Ahem - sort of got side-tracked there. Back to your friend. I don't watch this one but that is way cool. You'll have to keep us posted on how he does.

I've never really watched it, but based on commercials and pictures I've seen, what bugs me is that it's called Beauty and the Geek when the girls, for the most part, are not pretty. They wear tight clothes, have over-done hair and makeup, and they're airheads. This, apparently, is what makes them qualify as "beauties" for the show, and it pisses me off because I know that a hot body and super-tight clothing are all it takes for some guys to see a girl as beautiful or sexy, and I feel like this show is participating in that.

I'm sure if they tried hard they'd find girls who are shallow, dumb, and beautiful. Then their title would make sense.

Who's Andrea? I must have been REALLY distracted last night (by my newfound love of Nate, seriously, can I marry that kid?), but it's cool 'cause I got Joe hooked, so I'm pretty sure we'll be tuning in regularly. So I can giggle over antoher boy. Really, he's very nice about that sort of thing. He watches Big Love with me, and, well, you can imagine that I maybe am somewhat vocal about the prettiness of a certain blonde.

Joe said the voice teahcer was funny looking, but I thought she'd be hot if she put on 15 pounds. Joe also thinks Amanda Seyfried is funny looking, so I dismiss his opinion on principle. I thought the girl who partnered with the guy who did the Mario joke (she was wearing an adorable black + white dress and red headband?) was hot. Now I have to go to the website and remember who Niels is.

Now that I went to the website: Yes, Nadia is the hot one, Yes, I hate Andrea, and yes, Niels is the least geeky by far of all of them. Except maybe Mario. Who I would be best friends with. Nate comes off a little like the pretentious calculated cool-geeky guys I went to college with, except the red shoes and the funny I think are a giveaway that it's more genuine.

I think Niels was the one who my husband kept commenting on his underbite. I didn't notice it much, but it really distracted Dave. Heh.

The girls actually mostly looked better on TV than in their pics, which relieved me a bit. But Tori had to be the dumbest, most obstinate, lazy girl ever. I felt bad for her partner. He wanted to do well and she just didn't even try. I'm glad she is out. She wasn't even pretty at all IMHO.

Nadia was really cute and sweet and Mario was very confident for being a geek. Sheree did a great job on her interview--I was impressed!

Yeah, the girls did look better on TV. Cecille was still freaky, though. And oh my God, Tori. She so obviously didn't try; what could Sanjay possibly say? It's not like she would even admit that she did the least bit wrong. At least the one who just said "parenting" over and over admitted she fucked up. And at least she tried. Andrea also pissed me off because after all her bluster about wanting to win...she doesn't even make an effort herself? I hate her.

Nadia was very cute and sweet; I was a little hesitant at first, but she really took to Mario, I think, and it brought out her better side. And, yeah, Sheree did great! Though I have to give props to Nadia for apparently being the only person who could pronounce "enigmatic." And she did have a good strategy with bringing up high gas prices.